Starting on April 1st for the 2011 fall semester, the University of Alaska is implementing a priority registration system. This new process will permit students to register for their courses depending on their class standing. This will let graduate students and seniors take priority in picking their classes first.
With a new priority registration system, students can expect less traffic on the UA server when attempting to register for classes. This is especially useful for upperclassmen that are looking to fulfill those last few credits to complete their degree.
Crystal Shaw, a senior majoring in natural sciences, couldn’t feel any more positive about this change. She thinks it’s a good idea since upperclassmen are in more of a time-crunch trying to get into the classes they need to graduate.
A student’s worst nightmare on registration night is finally gaining access to UAOnline after many failed attempts, only to find that the class he or she needed is now full.
Of course there are several alternatives such as seeking approval from the instructor to be added to the waiting list. However, that’s just more of a hassle busy students do not have the patience to go through.
Most of the time students may just wait until the semester starts to be waitlisted in the course. Alternatively, they end up waiting to see if a student will drop and a spot to open up. That’s a big if.
Still, this is more run around that occurs for the student. For upperclassmen, it’s a heavy weight being placed on their shoulders if there’s a chance the class they need is unavailable. This priority registration system should help clear that inconvenience.
Shaw adds that most lowerclassmen are indecisive and are still trying to figure out what they want to do.
Zlata Sushchik, a senior majoring in business management, agrees. She thinks as a senior, it’s important to get first pick for classes to graduate. Some 100-level courses are full within the first five minutes. Sometimes, freshmen register for several classes and drop half of them within the first week. This is not fair to those striving to be in these classes.
Sharon Kim, a double-major in nursing and history, thinks otherwise. She doesn’t think it’s fair to implement what she thinks is “restrictive education” when every student at the university is equally paying for it.
For the most part—upperclassmen like what they see. There have been some suggestions to make an exception list for the lowerclassmen that want to register outside of their class standing. Some students are very determined and want to get ahead. This process would be similar to making exceptions on the maximum credits a student can take by filling out the credit-overload form.
Shaw adds that she feels for students who know what they want and are trying to take large loads to finish early. She believes most students wouldn’t put in the effort to turn in these types of documents to the Registrar if they weren’t serious about getting ahead.
A more detailed schedule and frequently asked questions can be found on the Registrar’s web page.
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